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Evidence of Surplus Production in the Cherokee Nation Prior to Removal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

David M. Wishart
David M. Wishart
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of Economics at Wittenberg University, P.O. Box 720, Springfield, OH 45501.
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Abstract

Debate over the level of economic development for the Eastern Cherokees was heated during the 1830s. Removal opponents argued that the Cherokees had adopted white agricultural methods, whereas advocates of removal maintained that little evidence of progress existed. Removal advocates believed that Cherokee economic progress required that they be removed from contact with whites. This article examines the statistical record to show that a majority of Cherokee households produced surplus food before removal. The large number of Cherokee households producing surpluses before removal suggests the existence of significant rents to be transmitted to white farmers via the removal policy.

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Type
Articles
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The Journal of Economic History , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , March 1995 , pp. 120 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1995

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